The Stat Pack

Tuesday, March 4, 2008

This time it's for real. Brett Favre announcedto the Packers that he is retiring from the NFL after 17 years. Favre holds almost every single major passing record in the NFL Record books. One wonders what the Falcons franchise would look like if they didn't trade Favre after one season? The Falcons selected Favre in the second round of the 2001 draft, but then Falcons coach Jerry Glanville didn't like the pick of Favre at all saying it would take a plane crash for him to put the rookie into the game. Favre attempted five passes for the Falcons and was traded to Green Bay in the offseason.

Wednesday, February 27, 2008

In case you haven't noticed the severe lack of updates on TSP, we've really thrown our hats into the world of Rays blogs. Our own spin off blog Outs Per Swing, has been well received, even picking up an endorsement from Rays owner Stu Sternberg. We've also joined Rays Anatomy at MVNand have started writing for them as well. This explains the lack of TSP activity, and while we hoped to keep TSP as active as possible it's almost impossible with the schedules we have. However, we will continue to post when we can. In the mean time you can catch us over at OPS and MVN.

Tuesday, February 19, 2008

Let's go back in time folks. Back to a simpler day when we didn't have to dig up Keith Van Horn's body to complete a trade. Jason Kidd is a Maverick again, just like 1994. In what might be the most delayed trade since, well, Erik Bedard's deal last week, the Mavericks & Nets completed an eight player deal sending J-Kidd and his big headed kid to Dallas for Devin Harris, DeSagana Diop, Trenton Hassell, Maurice Ager, Van Horn's Soul via sign-and-trade, '08 and '10 1st Rd Picks and $3 million in cash.

This is the latest move that shifts the balance of the NBA even more West. It is truly a Varsity/JV Split in the NBA right now. One wonders if the Spurs will now make a move in order to counteract their rivals in the west.

The move is definitely a win-now move for the Mavs. J-Kidd is 34 and heading into the twilight of his career, but to me he's still a Top five PG in the league and can only make Dirk, J-Howard and Jason Terry that much more dangerous. For the Nets, this finally ends the Jason Kidd era that included two finals appearances, but no titles.

Friday, February 15, 2008

I guess I need to keep that "Will work for food" sign around longer for former Miami Dolphins and Atlanta Falcons players. Following the lead of Miami's releasing of veterans: Trent Green, Marty Booker, Zach Thomas and others, the Atlanta Falcons went on a firing spree of their own today highlighed by releasing Pro Bowl TE Alge Crumpler and Byron Leftwich among others. I wouldn't be surprised to see a few additional names such as Keith Brooking, Warrick Dunn, Lawyer Malloy and Joey Harrington added to that list soon. Here are some comments from Falcons new GM Thomas Dimitroff:

"This is a difficult day for the entire organization."

"These decisions weren't easy, but we felt they were necessary to build a team in the long-term best interest of the Falcons and its fans."

The Falcons can also thank Mike Vick for this situation. Since they cannot recover his signing bonus it put the Falcons salary cap in terrible shape.

Tuesday, February 12, 2008

For some teams Pitchers and Catchers report in just two days and yet we have a former MVP, a former CY Young winner, and numerous All-Stars still looking for work. Take a look at our top 10 list of players who are still free agents:

Barry Bonds:The Greatest hitter of all time, period. Last year, Bonds posted a 170 OPS+ at the age of 42. Alex Rodriguez had a monster year last year, arguably his best, and he posted a 177 OPS+. His "off the field" problems are keeping him "off the field" more than his play.

Kyle Lohse:I think Lohse probably had a deal on the table earlier but gambled for a bigger payday and lost. His best hope is to sign a 1 yr deal and hope to put up good numbers and try again next year.

Bartolo Colon:Damaged goods, coming off back to back injury plagued seasons. May sign a deal to rehab with a team and come back mid-season or next year.

Shannon Stewart:Posted some good numbers last year .290/.345/.394 with an OPS+ of 101. Not bad for a 33 year old. Should get a job sometime in the spring as a 4th OF'er.

Kenny Lofton:Same as Stewart, put up good numbers at a more impressive age, 40. Should catch on during ST.

Livan Hernandez:Big surprise nobody has taken a harder look at the innings eater. Livan will probably sign on as a back end starter for a team that has injury concerns or is looking for a veteran to anchor their rotation.EDIT:Talk about working quickly, It seems Twins GM Bill Smith is a big TSP fan. Since this post Hernandez has signed a 1 year deal between $5 and 6 Million dollars with the twins. Thats one down...

Josh Fogg:Much like Livan, I'm surprised someone hasn't signed Fogg to a 1 or 2 yr deal yet. Not that he's any good, but still surprising someone hasn't over paid for him. Maybe teams are getting smarter.

Jeff Weaver:Similar to Fogg, it looks like teams have finally realized what you see is what you get. An average ERA+ of 74 the past two years shouldn't get you a $8-10 million dollar contract.

Reggie Sanders:Coming off an injury plagued season. Still can be a valuable bat off the bench and mentor to young players. Just a matter of time before he signs with his ninth big league team.

Armando Benitez:Not worth much more than a minor league deal at this point.

Monday, February 11, 2008

The Redskins finally decided on a head coach this weekend. It wasn't Gregg Williams, who interviewed 4 times, Ron Meeks, Pete Carroll, or Steve Mariucci. However, it was a Jim, but not the Jim's who interviewed before like Jim Fassel, Jim Mora Jr., Jim Schwartz, Jimmy Dean or Jim Beam. Nope, it was another Jim, one you probably never heard of if you live outside of the Pacific North West. Jim Zorn was named Washington Redskins Head Coach after a month long search for Joe Gibbs successor. Zorn was hired as Redskins Offensive Coordinator earlier this offseason in what many thought was a strange move. Why hire an offensive coordinator without a head coach? This is were Dan Snyder is a genius, he knew Zorn would be a perfect fit for the next head coach because, well, he is the next head coach. This goes down as one of the strangest moves in a long line of weird management decisions by Snyder. Revist one of my earlier stories and you'll see that Snyder is doing his best to make Al Davis look sane. Zorn, a former Seattle Seahawks QB, and most recently QB Coach has never held a head coaching postion and only interviewed for the position this past thursday after Giants defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo withdrew from consideration.

As a Cowboys fan the Zorn era couldn't have gotten of to a better start. Standing behind the three Redskins super bowl trophies Zorn said, "I look at these three trophies,and it's quite intimidating." Excellent Jimmy, just wait till your standing in Texas Stadium with the star in the middle of the field, god looking down on his team through the open roof, and five Super Bowl banners hanging from the rafters. That won't scare you a bit.

On to more Zorn-isms:

Zorn said he definitely planned to hire an offensive coordinator. Wow, this guy is bright. Imagine the concept, If I'm the offensive coordinator and then I become the head coach I'm definitely going to need to hire another offensive coordinator. Great Plan!

Of course, as a Head Coach your coordinators are key because one coach can't have his hands in everything at one time, but you would like to think the head coach at least knows what everybody is doing and that he has final say on matters. When asked about the defense Zorn replied "I'm going to leave that alone." He was then asked about the riggers of having to put out so many fires on a daily basis as an NFL head coach. Zorn didn't disappoint the masses with:

"I'm hoping I don't have to put out every fire."

"I'm hoping there are going to be enough people in place in a supportive role that they can put out the fire before it gets to me,"

"Because I want to coach. I'm not here for fluff. I want to lead and I want to motivate."

Look, don't bother my man Jim here with defensive game plans and injury reports, we don't need that fluff. Let's cut to the game day pep talk

Quite possibly the best Zorn-ism of all, Zorn said his family is proud to wear the Maroon and Black of the Redskins. Take a minute.....Maroon and Black.....Ok time is up. Let's see what Wikipedia has to say about the colors of the Redskins. Team colors: Burgundy and Gold

Yep, just like I thought. Now let's check out what Maroon and Black looks like